First we went to the men’s quarters where we were given a cup of ‘billy tea’ (made by swagger Jerry) and a freshly baked scone with cream and jam. We were told about Totara Estate when it was a huge farm operation for the production of wool and later meat, started by British immigrants. Many men worked there, about half of them permanently and the others were casual workers called swaggers. Swaggers would walk through the countryside to find work. Often they would walk hundreds of kilometres a year, from one workplace to another, being paid only in food and shelter. It was a really hard life.
At Totara Estate they invented the transport of frozen meat to England by ship. England – then “The Motherland” - needed a lot of food and was not able to produce it. The Industrial Revolution had driven people to cities and farming was ‘out’. Food had to be brought in from everywhere in the empire; an empire so big that the sun never set on it. The invention of the steam engine led to the invention of the portable freezing of meat. That made it possible to get sheep meat to England in the three months that it took without it going rotten. A steam engine was put onto a sailing ship and the machine cooled the hold and froze the meat. It took a lot of coal to keep the machine going but it worked really well. The first frozen meat transport happened in 1882. Soon this invention was taken up in the whole of New Zealand and freezing works could be found in almost every harbour.
At Totara Estate they invented the transport of frozen meat to England by ship. England – then “The Motherland” - needed a lot of food and was not able to produce it. The Industrial Revolution had driven people to cities and farming was ‘out’. Food had to be brought in from everywhere in the empire; an empire so big that the sun never set on it. The invention of the steam engine led to the invention of the portable freezing of meat. That made it possible to get sheep meat to England in the three months that it took without it going rotten. A steam engine was put onto a sailing ship and the machine cooled the hold and froze the meat. It took a lot of coal to keep the machine going but it worked really well. The first frozen meat transport happened in 1882. Soon this invention was taken up in the whole of New Zealand and freezing works could be found in almost every harbour.
Swagger Jerry then took us around the estate, showing us how it had worked in those days. We saw the slaughter house, the stables, the blacksmith’s workshop and the granary. We saw how everything had to be made on the spot because there were no shops available to buy nails and screws then! We also saw pictures of the men who invented it all, of the first ship that transported it and we heard about the trips and the dangers while the ships were sailing.
To finish, we hand-fed some heritage sheep and lambs. They knew what was coming when the cans with the sheep nuts rattled!
It was a very interesting trip and thank you to Mrs. Campbell for assisting with our transport. Thank you also to the staff of Totara Estate, in their Victorian clothes, who gave us a really good time.
By Mrs Foster and Ina de Paauw-Fontein
